Devil's Knot - In the shadow of truth
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Devil's Knot - In the shadow of truth |
| Original title | Devil's Knot |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2013 |
| length | 114 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Atom Egoyan |
| script |
Paul Harris Boardman (writer) Scott Derrickson (writer) Mara Leveritt ( writer ) |
| production | Paul Harris Boardman Elizabeth Fowler Clark Peterson Richard Saperstein Christopher Woodrow |
| music | Mychael Danna |
| camera | Paul Sarossy |
| cut | Susan Shipton |
| occupation | |
| |
Devil's Knot - In the Shadow of Truth ( German The Devil's snare ) is an American film biography of Atom Egoyan from the year 2013 with Colin Firth , Reese Witherspoon and Stephen Moyer in the lead roles . The film is based on the bestseller of the same name by Mara Leveritt , which describes the fall of the West Memphis Three .
action
West Memphis in the US state of Arkansas : Three eight year-old boys - Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore - are in the Robin Hood Hills, one surrounded by forests wetland disappeared. That same evening, an apparently mentally confused man, completely smeared with mud and blood, fell into a small town restaurant. The police called in cannot find him. After an extensive search, the three boys, tied with their own shoelaces, are found dead in a river. One of them bled to death from knife wounds, the others drowned.
Because of the violent and sexual nature of the crimes, the community and small town police are convinced that the murders are the work of a satanic cult. House searches of a group of young people with behavioral problems reinforce the police's suspicions. She finds ritual artifacts, occult reading material and heavy metal . The case seems clear. The three teenagers Jessie Misskelley, 17, Jason Baldwin, 16 and Damien Echols, 18, are finally arrested. All three are outsiders and heavy metal fans. Misskelley confesses to the murders after 12 hours of interrogation in the absence of a lawyer or his parents and charges Baldwin and Echols. Nobody wants to see that his statement is bursting with half-truths and logical errors. The eight-year-old Aaron Hutcheson, under gentle pressure from his financially troubled mother Vicki, also weighs heavily on the young people by saying that he has seen everything. Strangely enough, however, he was spared the alleged murderers.
During the ongoing legal proceedings, the private detective Ron Lax becomes aware of the case and he decides to investigate the case for the young people's lawyers pro bono . In the course of the investigation, he comes across various inconsistencies. The police visit his ex-wife and ask questions. Apparently they want to prevent Lax from finding out something. Lax can only gather clues, he cannot intervene.
Misskelley is accused of complicity, but receives separate proceedings. Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols are the main accused of willful homicide allegedly related to Satanism and human sacrifice. Baldwin, like Misskelley, is also sentenced to life imprisonment. Echols receives the death sentence .
Ron Lax meets Stevie Branch's mother after the trial. Pamela Hobbs does not believe in the guilt of the three teenagers either. She shows Lax Stevie's pocket knife, which she surprisingly found on Stevie's stepfather Terry Hobbs. She says that Stevie loved this knife more than anything, like everything he got from his grandfather, and that he never parted with it. Pam wonders why the police hadn't found this knife on Stevie's body and why her husband had it now.
In the credits of the film it is reported that Aaron Hutcheson, who told the police such an extraordinary story, later claimed that he did not know what really happened. His mother Vicki also retracted her testimony, claiming that the police threatened her and "scared her to death."
Two years after the trial, John Mark Byers 'wife (little Chris Byers' mother) was found dead at home. The cause of her death remains unclear.
Terry Hobbs' hair samples from 1993 were never examined by the police.
Ron Lax continued to work for the defense. In 2006 he secretly procured another DNA sample from Terry Hobbs. In 2007 the defense had these DNA samples tested. Terry Hobbs' DNA samples were identical to the DNA of a hair found in Michael Moore's shackles.
The bloodied man from the restaurant was never found.
After 18 years in prison, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley negotiated a settlement with the state of Arkansas. They were released from prison in 2011, but remained convicted offenders.
Pamela Hobbs never gave up on the search for her son's real killer.
background
The case came to be known as West Memphis Three .
At the realization of Devil's Knot - In the Shadow of the truth that was film production company Worldview Entertainment involved.
The film was shot in three locations in the US state of Georgia: Morrow, Cartersville and Atlanta . The film budget was estimated at 15 million US dollars .
The film was screened on September 8, 2013 at the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada . In Germany , a screening took place on October 3, 2013 at the Hamburg Film Festival . The US theatrical release was on May 9, 2014 in select theaters.
reception
Devil's Knot - In the Shadow of Truth was rated mostly negative. On the Rotten Tomatoes website , the film received a positive rating from just 36 percent of reviewers .
“'Devil's Knot - In the Shadow of Truth' tells the true story of the 'West Memphis Three' and tries to trace the crime and the investigation as precisely as possible. Unfortunately, director Atom Egoyan cannot keep up the tension throughout the complex web of suspicions, traces and prejudices. "
literature
- Mara Leveritt: Devil's knot. The true story of the West Memphis Three . Atria Books, New York 2002, ISBN 0-7434-1759-3 ( loc.gov [accessed December 11, 2013] American English: Devil's knot. The true story of the West Memphis Three .).
Web links
- Devil's Knot - In the shadow of truth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Devil's Knot - In the Shadow of Truth at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release Certificate for Devil's Knot - In the Shadow of Truth . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , August 2014 (PDF; test number: 146 736 V).
- ^ IMDb Company Credits Devil's Knot. Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
- ↑ IMDb Filming Locations Devil's Knot. Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
- ^ IMDb Box office / business for Devil's Knot. Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
- ↑ IMDb Release Info Devil's Knot. Retrieved February 10, 2014 .
- ↑ Devil's Knot (2014). Rotten Tomatoes , accessed December 11, 2013 .
- ↑ Film review by Cornelis Hähnel on CountryMusicNews.de